-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- If you 're walking along the east African coast and chance upon a herd of brightly-striped elephants , flame-hued rhinos and a tower of crazily-colored giraffes , then do n't panic , you 're not hallucinating -- and neither have you stumbled on a psychedelic new species , sorry .

No , in fact this is the vibrant kingdom of skilful artisans where harmful waste is transformed into a colorful bliss -- one flip-flop at a time .

Ocean Sole is a Kenyan recycling company that 's crafting whimsical pieces of art and fashion from discarded flip-flops and other plastic junk -- piles of rubbish that wash up on Kenya 's sandy beaches .

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Inside its Nairobi-based workshop , reclaimed old sandals and other polluting pieces of rubber are fashioned into handmade animal toys , eye-popping curtains , intricate necklaces and even life-size sculptures . The playful creations are sold locally as well as in dozens of zoos , aquariums and stores in some 20 countries across the wold .

`` It 's a trade-based solution to the global problem of marine pollution , '' says Julie Church , the co-founder of Ocean Sole . `` It gets people to think about the ocean and links them to waterways -- and we 're doing it through business . ''

Environmental threat

Like in many other developing countries , flip-flops are the footwear of choice for millions of people in Kenya . Affordable and convenient , they are worn by both children and adults alike , as well as by scores of tourists visiting the white sand beaches in east Africa .

But once the sandals ' walking life comes to an end , the ubiquitous footwear often embarks on another , more harmful , journey .

Masses of broken rubber flip-flops dumped in cities and villages are carried by sewage systems , rivers and other waterways into Kenyan coastlines every year . At the same time , countless of non-degradable flip-flops and other plastic waste ends up on the same shores , brought there by powerful currents from places as far away as China and Indonesia .

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The flotsam and jetsam do not only spoil the natural beauty of the environment but are also a major hazard to the wildlife living there .

`` Pollution in all our waterways is a big problem , '' says Church , who was born and raised in Kenya . `` Rivers are clogged up with plastic and rubber and everything else , '' she adds . `` When people say that the ocean is plastic soup , it really is , because plastic does n't go away -- it just breaks down to smaller and smaller parts . Fish , whales , sharks are digesting that plastic and sooner or later that 's going to work its way into our food chain . ''

Trade , not aid

The inspiration for Ocean Sole came in 1997 when Church , a marine conservationist at the time , started working in a sea turtle preservation project on the remote island of Kiwayu near the Kenya-Somalia border .

Whilst there , Church was shocked to find beautiful beaches strewn with a myriad of plastic objects that damaged the environment and obstructed the turtles from reaching their nesting sites .

But , with curious fascination , Church also watched how local children used this marine debris -- cast-off flip-flops and other junk they 'd found by the sea -- to create their own toys to play with .

This triggered a thought on Church 's mind : What if she could launch a project that would help clean the beaches and also boost development in the community ? Inspired by the children 's makeshift creations , Church then encouraged the local women to collect , wash and process the thrown-away flip-flops and transform them into colorful artefacts for a profit .

`` We started a minor little program there , '' recalls Church , `` with that sort of idea to link conservation and development together . ''

Transforming rubber , changing attitudes

What began as a part time initiative -- which was initially dubbed UniquEco -- has now been turned into a regular and growing business .

Ocean Sole , which provides direct employment today to more than 70 people , aims to recycle 400,000 flip-flops every year . It works with more than 10 suppliers who collect the raw material from waterways in and around Nairobi , as well as from the Kenyan coastline , and deliver it to the company 's workshop .

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There , Ocean Sole workers go through large bags full of broken flip-flops every day to select the ones they 're going to use in their creations . The artisans then clean the rubber sandals and sort them according to their color . Next , they cut , mold and sand them as they turn the old flip-flops into their eye-catching creations .

`` We are focused mainly on animals , '' says Church . `` Our target markets are zoos , aquariums and museums worldwide -- we 've done that because that 's what we 're good at making at the moment but we are exploring other products too . ''

Church says that Ocean Sole is for her `` a means to an end , '' a more effective way to spread her green message than working as a marine conservationist .

`` My goal is to create change in the way people live and change in the way people understand the world and its connections , '' she says .

`` Certainly about the ocean , doing that through the business of recycling rubber that floats , '' she continues , `` and doing it independently in a relative sustainable and grown up way where you have to have a market and a good product , you 've got to be commercial , '' adds Church .

`` I think only if we succeeded commercially we can really succeed in our goal which is to create attitudinal and lifestyle change . ''

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Ocean Sole is a company turning broken flip-flops into colorful animal sculptures

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Masses of rubber sandals blight beaches and waterways , creating an eco-disaster

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Kenya-based Ocean Sole aims to recycle some 400,000 flip-flops every year

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The company sells its creations in zoos , aquariums and stores around the world